Folding bed



(No Model.)

R. M. ANTHONY.

FOLDING BEIM No. 580,359.Y Patented Apr. 13, 1897.

WITNESSES VENTO 1N: NoRms llamas co. com-urna.. mamma-ron, o. c.

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ROBERT M. ANTHONY, OF STAMFORD, CONNECTICUT.

FOLDlNG BED..

SPECIFCATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 580,359, dated April 13,1897. Application filed dalllmly 29, 1897. Serial No. 621,156. (Nomodel.)

T0 al?, whom it may concern/1,: i

Be it known that l, ROBERT M. ANTHONY, a citizen of the United States,residing at Stamford, in the county of Fairfield and State ofConnecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inFolding Beds; and 1 do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear,and exact description of the invention, such as will enable othersskilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in folding beds; and the object ofthe same is to provide a folding bed which may be operated without theexertion and inconvenience necessary to the operation of most of thefolding beds now in general use, said bed being adapted to be looked inany position desired.

The invention also consists in so pivoting the foot portion of the bedthat the same may be used for securing in position the bedclothes whenthe bed is to be folded.

The invention consists in the novel details of construction hereinafterfully described, claimed, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings,in which# Figure 1 is a top plan view of my bed withtheheadportionsectionedtransversely. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectionalview looking in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 1, the side piece andinner wall of the head-section being removed to expose the operatingmechanism. Fig. 3 is a view of a portion of one of the sides, thefoot-piece, and the lever for moving the foot-piece, dotted linesshowing the foot-piece in position for securing thel bedclothes upon thebed.

, Referring to the accompanying drawings, 1 indicates a head-section,which is provided 4with a top 2, a bottom 3, and the side compartments aand 5. Extending transversely through the lower portion of thehead-section is the operating-shaft 6, to which the side pieces 7 andSof the bed are attached. These side pieces are secured to the shaft bymeans of the plates 9 and 10, which are screwed thereto and providedwith the sockets 11 and 12, through which the said shaft passes and issecured.

Secured to one end of the shaft 6, within the compartment 5 ,is thetoothed segment 13,

which intermeshes with the worm-gear 14: upon the shaft 15., whichextends longitudinally through said compartment.

Secured to the inner side of the compartment 5 is the angular casting16, formed with the arm 17, and passing through the side wall ofthecompartment 5, the casting, and the arm 17 is the crankshaft 18,having the crank 10. Upon this crank-shaft 18 and within the compartment5 is the mitergear 20, which meshes with a similar gear 21 on the shaft15.

As will he understood, when the crank is rotated the segment is operatedthrough the medium of the worm-gear, and the side pieces of the bed areraised or lowered. The crank may be placed upon the end of the shaft 15,so that the bed may be operated from the back instead of the sidewithout departing from the spirit of my invention. The segment has thelug 22 formed thereon, in which one end of the rope 23 is secured, saidrope passing upwardly and over the pulley 24, journaled in the bracket25, attached to the top of the headssection, and has secured to itsopposite end the balance-weight 26. The opposite end of shaft (3, withinthe compartment 4, has secured thereto a perforated arm 27, and to thisarm is attached a rope similar to the rope 23, the pulley and itssupporting# bracket and the balance-weight being duplicated on this sideof the bed. These balanceweights extend within the compartments i and 5,as will be understood, and are not exposed to view.

The forward ends of the sides 7 and S are connected by the cross-piece28, and pivoted to their opposite ends is the foot-board 29. Thisfoot-board is pivoted to the side pieces by the levers or rods 30, whichare attached at one end to the foot-piece and curved at their oppositeends 31, where they are secured to the operating-disks 32, which areattached to the transversely-extending shaft 35, journaled in the sidepieces of the bed. These operating-disks are provided with theoperating-handle The foot-piece is slotted at 34 for the reception ofthe ends of the side pieces, as will appear from the drawings.

Vhen it is desired to fold the bed, the side pieces are raised a slightdistance by operatingthe crank and are held in position by the IOOengagement of the worm-gear with the toothed segment. Vhen in thisposition, the operating-disks 32 are rotated by means of their handles33, which swing the foot-piece out of engagement with the side piecesand upwardly upon the top of the bedclothes, where it may be fastenedbythe straps or hooks 35. In this position the cloth es are preventedfrom slipping from the bed when the side pieces are swung upwardlyintothe head portion or section. Both of the operating-disks 32 beingsecured to the same shaft, when one is operated the other will becorrespondingly moved, so that the movement of the footpiece will beeven and there will be no sticking occasioned by one side moving inadvance of the other.

From the above description it will be seen that I have produced afolding bed which by its peculiar operating mechanism may be retained inanyposition, eitheropened or closed or at an intermediate point, and inaddition to this have so pivoted the foot-board that the same may beutilized as a securing means for preventing the bedclothes from slippingout of position when the bed is folded.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is`

l.V A folding bed comprising a head portion, sides, a shaft extendedthrough said sides and a head portion to which the sides are secu red, atoothed segment on said shaft, an operating-shaft meshing with saidsegment for operating the shaft and closing the bed, a footpiece adaptedto swing out of the way when the bed is to be closed, and a means forimparting motion to the operating-shaft, substantially as described.

2. A folding bed comprising a head-section, side pieces adapted to closewithin said section, a shaft extended through the head-section to whichthe side pieces are secured, a toothed segment on one end of said shaft,a shaft having a worm-gear intermeshing with said toothed segment foroperating the same and closing the bed, ropes attached to one end ofsaid shaft and having at their opposite ends counterweights, afoot-piece for said bed pivoted to swing upwardly and out of the waywhen the bed is to be closed, and a means for operating the worm-gearfor closing the bed, substantially as described.

A folding bed comprising a head-section provided with side compartmentsand a top, a shaft extending through the compartments, side piecessecured to the shaft, a toothed segment on one end of the shaft withinone of the compartments, a shaft extended longitudinally through saidcompartment, a wormgear on said shaft adapted to intermesh with thetoothed segment, a crank attached to said shaft for operating theworm-gear and raising the side pieces, and a swinging foot-board pivotedto the opposite ends of the substantially as described.

4f. A folding bed comprising a head-section, a shaft extendedtransversely through said head portion, side pieces secured to the saidshaft, a foot-piece, levers pivoted at one end to the foot-piece andcurved at their opposite ends, a shaft extended transversely through theside pieces adjacent the foot-piece, operating-disks upon the ends ofsaid shaft to which the curved ends of the levers are secured,operating-handles upon the operatingdisks for moving the same andswinging the foot-piece out of engagement with the side pieces andupwardly upon the bedclothes where it is adapted to be secured, and ameans for operatin g the first-named shaft and swinging the side piecesWithin the head-section, substantially as described.

v 5. A folding bed comprising a head-section having side compartmentsand a top, a shaft extended transversely through the head-section, sidepieces secured to the said shaft, a toothed segment upon one end of theshaft and within one of the compartments, a lug formed upon the toothedsegment, a rope secured at one end of the lug and extending upwardlyover a pulley suitably journaled in the top of the head-section, aweight attached to the end of the rope, an arm attached to the oppositeend of the shaft Within the other compartment, a rope secured to saidarm and extending upwardly over the pulley at the top of thehead-section, a weight upon the end of the rope, a foot-piece, and ameans for operating the shaft and swinging the side pieces andfoot-piece within said section, substantiall y as described.

t'. A folding bed comprising a head-section formed with a top and withside compartments, a shaft extended through the headsection, a toothedsegment upon one end of the shaft and within'one of the compartments, asecond shaft extended longitudinally through the said compartment, andprovided with a worm-gear intermeshin g with the toothed segment, acasting attached to the inner wall of the compartment, a short shaftextended through the side of the compartment and the casting, amiter-gear carried by the short shaft, a miter-gear upon the worm-gearshaft adapted to intermesh with the first-named side pieces,

' miter-gear, a crank upon the end of the short shaft for operating themiter-gears and swinging the side pieces upwardly within theheadsection, and a foot-piece attached to the side pieces, substantiallyas described.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence oftwo subscribing witnesses.

ROBERT M. AN'lIfIONY.

Witnesses F. T. RUSSELL, FRED. A. TAFF.

TIO

